Day 74

Perhaps I am reaching the (sun)light at the end of that downswong tunnel... letting it caress my skin with all its warmth and stuff ; I knew I was significantly up today after my 3h session, but never would of I imagined I had crossed the 2.5k mark in profits Yes, indeed, perhaps we are seeing the upswing light, yo




+2.2k online in 5h


You guys have read the Ringer article about Phil Ivey yet... definitely worth a read : https://theringer.com/phil-ivey-worl...r-51cd56b8cccf


Challenge : +23, 925.47$

Live Ecosystem (Day 75)

How to confuse one's opening ranges 101 : continuously alternate in between live and online sessions ; throw in some holdem, both MTTs and cash games ; mix in between shorthanded and 10 handed tables ; add some omaha, both hi and 08 ; play both limit and NL games ; include some pineapple games - why not - and even crazy pineapple hi/lo, you know, just for the sake of making all ranges/board reading confusing as frack

It use to be that I would dedicate more time/focus on my live game, thus relinquishing my virtual game to a secondhand attentiveness level - kind of, but not extensively -, while this year online has been my predominant game, hence throwing live in the gutter

But more importantly, I do not see this poker game of ours coming back to the form it once had... People from other communities are coming less (lots of folks from Inuvik fly directly to Edmonton, where they can play 2-5, omaha and have 24h games), players here are losing interest, and our weekly omaha game is killing the action for the rest of the week. Given that my edge in omaha is miles from my NLHE one, when Friday comes rolling around and players have lost all interest for an all-in shovefest, it definitely affects my yesteryear winrate Alas, the state of this live game has at times got me thinking... I mean, if I had access to it, I would be grinding 5-10 as my main game, yet this is the place I call home and with online going so well, I do not need to settle down in an urban area just for live pokerz ; this said, if I do not maintain at least 35-40$+/h (there was only one summer where I averaged underneath 50$/h in 6 years), I might have to revisit this life decision of mine... -100$ live in 2h, +1.7k in 5h online





Challenge : +24, 570.02$

Day 76

I mean, something has to give I just got destroyed live, once again... This time it was the Omaha variance that ****ed me over Not only did I drop 1.2k - which is normal variance, tbh -, but I was on complete ape-tilt, had Hellmuth sorta steam ringing out of my ears, and had to either :

A- Flip over the ****ing time, start screaming my lungs out and shove someone against the wall...

B- Bow in humble sign of defeat, say "nice hand" and walk away, while trying to keep coordination while walking...

I choose the latter, of course, given that I prefer to observe the strong emotions that circulate through my body and mind, as oppose to exteriorize them and hence blame the world

Reminder to self : we are doing good. Our results are fine. If we include our upcoming bonuses/rake race, we find ourselves ahead of the 27k mark... not too shabby, not too shabby indeed Also, think of the number of times that we have put someone else on tilt, right... Breathe in, breathe out




-400$ online in 5h, -1.2k live in 5h


Challenge : +22, 919.15$

Day 75

How do you spell that fracking word again... T-I fracking ****ing L-T

I was speaking with a buddy today, telling him how I am averaging just under lol 10$/h live, which made him point out a few facts about my live game :

- I have lost that fire in me. I play nonchalantly, without aim, not paying much attention to live tells or anything, really

- The stakes affect me less. Kind of foolish, as it is not the little of variance involved that matters, but the hourly. Shunning a 50$/h winrate is pure foolishness

- I have been running terrible. Granted, I am far from my usual A+ game live and more along a bot-clicking B player, yet the variance has been nasty.

- Games are dead. We lost a few droolers over the years, some players even past away, while not finding a ton of new blood to keep the ecosystem healthy Hence, as soon as a few players go through that cyclical downswing and disappear for some time, the system takes a hit. On top of this, out of towners are not showing up as frequently.

- On the flip side, I am more balanced, take my swings with better emotional acceptance/coordination and a big part of this, is my disregard for my live results thus far.

- Keep in mind : when adjusted accordingly, we are still at 26k in this challenge, have a winrate of 50$/h, grinding 50h+ weekly and - AND - have maintained a healthy life balance even after playing professionally for 6 years + ; this is not something to frown upon.

Needless to say, but my main focus for the remainder 2 months of this challenge, will be to bring back my live A game. -800$ in 4h online




A la Into The Wild, this bus is parked 15kms outside of town, just by the Klondike River


Challenge : +22, 148.95$

Day 76

I... am... stubborn... as frack Sure, I should of been home a couple hours+ ago, grinding online instead of stubbornly trying to get unstuck in the live game, but I want to increase my live winrate... Like a little fracking boy that wants his candy Besides, who wants the beeping sounds of the computer when you can have these women dancing on stage in front of you :




-400$ live in 7h, +1k online in 3h


Will grind the afternoon tournament tomorrow, even though I should be playing online

#LiveTournament2Fun


Challenge : +22, 760.74$

Day 77

Just played my A game for the first time this season, meaning... I paid attention to live tells, was in tune with the flow of the metagame, attacked the right spots, had a better understanding of momentum/how people react to my aggression. It did help as well that we were 7-8 handed for the biggest of the evening (with 1 or 2 players taking turns being away), which plays into my biggest strengths (6 handed) while the other regs, stuck in their 10 handed flawed ranges, are lost at sea +400$ in 5h live, +500$ online in 4h






Challenge : +23, 668.33$

Month 3 in Review (Day 78)

Ok, lets put a nail in July, shall we I will not bother looking back on last month's results - too depressing -, and solely focus on where the numbers fall thus far - big picture yo - and what needs to be done in order to cross that dreaded 50k mark (even if finishing with 45k or 75k will change absolutely nothing to my life, minus some added retirement funds).

Live Pokerz : Ehhhhh, I never thought I would do so poorly in this area It does not help that the games have been dying (no game tonight, for example), but I will need to double down on my awareness/determination levels in order to reach a semi-acceptable winrate... On the plus side, I played my A game for the first time this summer yesterday and it did not cost me more in terms of fatigue level ; in fact, being more alert at the table perhaps even decreased my overall mental weariness... Goals for this month : to average over 50$+/h, but more importantly, to put in the effort : +2.4k in 254h

Online Pokerz : This has been by far the best part of this challenge (and of the past year) as I have thrived mightily on the virtual felt ; with BIG upcoming RB releases in the next couple of months, I also see no sign of any slowing down +20.6k in 319h

Health : I have lost 2lbs thus far and want to lose an extra 2-3lbs. Have been eating moderately well (salads, fruits, controlled junk-binging etc.), exercising a decent amount (running and tennis), meditating my standard 2h on a daily basis, camping somewhat, so have been overall really solid in this area of my life For an introvert like me that spends the majority of my allocated time in my brain, I am fairly happy with my effort to force myself to spend time outside of it

Studying : Maintained my 1h weekly and included a good chunk of poker related reading in there. Not sure when I will kick in the 4h of studying weekly (and hence upgrading my RIO account), but it might happen quite soon...

Ok folks, off camping for a couple of days to refresh my brain/soul before the last 2 month stint




The deserted casino tonight, where I spent 1h waiting for a game/chatting it up with the pretty French girl at the cantine


Challenge : +22, 986.36$

Day 80

Camping was a needed escape. I got the whollllllle campground to myself for the majority of the time, the sun was shining, the weather great, got to run around shirtless, jump in the lake at will ; easy game, yo





The rest was indeed imperative at this point of the challenge. But nonetheless, running bad like I have been lately, I came back to a couple of unsavoury news... Primo, I realized that there is 31 days in July, hence me I missing out on the last day of the month and thus finishing 4th in the rake race, costing me 650$ in the process, ffs I finished a mere 200pts behind 3rd, 107.9k to 107.7k , yet ahead of 5th place by also an eye-popping 2k pts On top of this, woke up to a letter from Revenue Canada informing me that I am now officially a Canadian non-resident, hence complicating a shyt-ton of official stuff (and after a 3 year old decision, those frackers ). You gotta hate those miserable ****ers that are trying to complicate my life, simply because I no longer have to pay taxes on my poker winnings, and they can do nothing about it

Tomorrow is an L08 10-20 game, time to print some monies and get this challenge back on track -100$ live in 1h, +100$ online in 4h


Challenge : +22, 900.99$

Day 81

Played my A game live again, which is definitely a good sign of things to come even if, alas, the run good has yet to materialize itself... +200$ live in 7h, +400$ online in 3h





Challenge : +23, 523.15$

Day 82

Had a nice dinner with poker friends ; so obviously, after the food was consumed and the liquids ingurgitated, we took out a deck of cards/a few chips and splashed away in a Funky-dealer's-choice- home-game-style, yo 2 flops 08, Cincinnati, 7 card stud 08... you name it, and we played it A light-hearted, fun evening that we plan on repeating on a weekly basis : +300$ live in 4h, -100$ online in 1h





Challenge : +23, 689.75$

Day 83

It use to be that on any given Friday evening, there would be over 5k+ on the table within 2h from the start of the game which, in a 10 handed game @ 200$ a clip, meant 20 rebuys in less than 2h Tonight, at no point did we cross the 5k threshold I understand that omaha Wednesdays is the new "BIG" night - granted, and we did cross the 10k mark in that game -, but ffs, what is happening with poker

Played my A game tonight, observing the table, in tune with the flow, picking up tells etc. ; it is crazy to what extend my A game largely outplays my auto-pilot B game I see us making 50$+/h live in the next 2 months but, alas, such was not the case tonight, as we ran bad once again : +200$ live in 7h, -400$ online in 3h





Challenge : +23, 519.90$

hey man, just wanted to let you know that I've been following this thread for a while now, great read wish you all the best, live variance can be pretty harsh even in very easy games, but you seem to manage just fine

Day 84

Shifting my attention to the live pokerz, also means sticking it out until closing hour, at 2am, that time where a drink becomes a few more, that the accumulated and repressed bad beats are slowly materializing themselves through the shape of tilting, and that moderately bad players suddenly become some absolute-utter-pure-spewtards

This drooler had 1000bbs in front of him when he showed up from the feeder table and as as soon as he stumbled to his seat and spilled his beer on the side table, the hunt was on You see, this was poker at its absolute raw form, at its basic predatory level... all eyes were on the new prey, gazing, scanning, licking our chops at plain sight yo, before coming in for the final kill Poker down to its animalistic, fundamental essence of "life feeds on life" and natural selection yo ; and I ****ing loved it Problem is, yours truly could not pick up a hand, and when I did decide to force the issue by widening up my opening range, I got caught with the hand in the cookie jar -100$ live in 7h, +300$ in 3h online



Thx for following bro

About variance, I always game selected according to low variance (even online), hence preferring the games that I crush, of course The life decision of living in this part of the world largely outweighs (for me) the accessibility to good 2-5 or 5-10 games, for instance. All this said, I have averaged 100bbs+/100 (25bb+/h), a winrate that alas , I do not think I will be able to maintain going forward as :

- the games are drying up
- my attention is turned towards online

This said, the next 2 months should see me maintain a solid hourly live and the online pokerz has made me resilient to the extent where the live variance of a 1-2 game barely makes a dent in my emotional balance (or bankroll)




Squatters 10kms outside of Steward Crossing, a little town of 100 people. I think they were biking/camping the Yukon


Challenge : +23, 676.57$

Week 12 in Review (Day 85)

Slow day at the office - much like all week -, as I went to dinner, sat in the sun, enjoyed the afternoon, all of which limited my grinding volume. Finally ran good live though in a mediocre live game : +600$ live in 4h, +1.8k online in 3h

Live Pokerz : My A game is back, which means that the results should follow suit in no time if the games stay moderately good Not much to add if not that we will put in more volume live at the detriment of online, partly because I prefer live given that it is less taxing on the brain : +1k in 30h and A- game

Online Pokerz : Decent enough week, especially considering that we went camping and were meant to take it relax after June's volume-heavy-yet-breakeven-stretch : +2k in 16h and A- game

Health : Only ran twice this week, but we are at a 6 year low weight wise, and we did take a needed camping break Will go on a small overnight camping trip this week and try for 1 game of tennis.

No studying for the upcoming week and we will set no goals as far as volume goes The following week though will see us impose a strict volume (50h+) and increased studying (4h+ of elite RIO videos) upon ourselves.




Quiet day at the office


Challenge : +26, 036.99$

Day 86

Almost got my (nemesis) buddy today at tennis when I rapidly took a 3-1 lead and then, when I found myself serving at 40-30 and up 3-2 in the set, I hit what I thought was a winner on the left backcourt line, only to see him desperately lob it back, I get the easy smash at the net... the open court... only to ****ing smash it out of bounds by a few cms FML This was the closest I ever got to beating him Oh well, as a foolish wise man once said, you can't win them all... or ever -400$ online in 3h

Will try for another tennis game on Wednesday and then go camping on Thursday, as this week will be chiiiiiillllllll folks And, oh yeah, dragons are ****ing EPIC

#GOTforever




Challenge : +25, 608.42$

Day 87

Meh, finished 3rd in Tuesdays Live tourney, essentially knocking me out of the seasonal points race Kind of gave it a half arse effort though, cockily deciding to only play 1/3 tournament a week and still win it all Of course, any time spent away from the virtual games, costs me in hourly equity, thus the decision would be easily defendable in a court of law, you know

Here is my Party Millions post in my travel blog for those of yous that do not follow both threads : http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=442

Been (dreamily) turning my attention towards my winter plans, and it seems it will go something like the following :
-Montreal (family + meditation retreat)
- Czech Republic (WSOPE)
- Slovakia, Monte Negro, Serbia, Bosnia (travelling)
- Romania (Unibet Open)
- Israel (1 month meditation retreat)
- Florida (family + HardRock grind)
- New-Orleans (Cajun culture yo and Harrahs)
- Not sure about the rest, but most likely a month in Brazil, perhaps...

All good stuff though, and looking forward to it Since I am officially no longer a backpacker (traded it in for a suitcase a couple of years back), I decided to increase the travel budget, to hop on a plane whenever I want to, because... you know... YOLO 0$ live in 2h, -1k in 4h online

#ForTheLulz




Standard in the Yukon : a half-pint of coffee, and 20k in gold


Challenge : +24, 641.53$

Day 88

In an omaha game where every 3bet is met with 5-6 callers , I am not sure if I should push my equity with some massive preflop raises, or simply nut-peddle postflop... Truth be told, I think that I am just pushing a little equity either way, hence making running like God an essential thing to do yo +100$ live in 6h, 1.5k online in 3h

Had an interesting situation where I turned a fh, trapped the aggressor by simply calling multi-way, then lead out on the river where the board read A10993 only to see villain cross the line with a min-raise, bring back the chips and 3x me The dealer is fairly new, so when I interjected with "what's going on?", preferring a min-raise in this spot, villain explained her POV to the dealer and got the 3x raise to stay. Now I could of intervened furthermore, as I knew that the ruling would be a min-raise, but since we all have known each other for years and I do really well for myself, I sucked it up, opted for a fold

Along with the few hours of online grinding, tomorrow will see me go hiking, play tennis and then camping ; a sweet day it will be folks





Challenge : +26, 284.92$

Day 89

Had ice cream, hung out by the river with a pretty lady, talked about the source of life, how to transcend its illusion, ayahuasca, mushrooms, meditation, aliens and basic otherworldly stuff, you know ; came back from a 3-0 deficit at tennis for the 6-4 gangsta win (after 6 or 7 deuces ) ; showered, will grind for a couple of hours then head out at 5am to go camping/catch the rising sun +300$ online in 4h

Not going to push myself excessively this weekend as far as poker goes, but will grind it till closing time Friday and Saturday at the casino, which should increase considerably our live winrate. Monday is when the grind will seriously get going once again, with 4h of weekly studying added to the toll Besides, we are clearing 4.5k in RB tomorrow, so this challenge will receive a well needed monetary boast





Challenge : +26, 594.77$

Day 90

Finally, the chips are being splashed around, more out-of-towners are showing up and the game was actually half-arse decent - the slow dealer not withstanding, of course -, enough, anyhow, to not want to constantly shoot myself in the face - still often enough though -, and promising enough that our live winrate should skyrocket from here on folks +600$ live in 7h, -1k online in 3h

Had a couple of people suggest to me to upgrade my van this week... I mean, it is very old, granted, has witnessed the grudge days, the passing of the 20th century and stuff, yet still functions pretty darn good, has a mattress in the back that serves perfectly camping purposes and has become my good buddy over time So even if I have a very healthy bankroll, I did not come to the Yukon to dress up the role, have new wheels every couple of years or show off a 25k watch on my wrist I ****ing hate the fake balla attitude so predominant in the poker world and I am not a 20 year old something hiding my insecurities behind a mask of glitter So I say, **** the rat race and all the superficiality that it beholds and long live the Yukon, land of the free and basic people, yo





Challenge : +26, 311.95$

Day 91

Perhaps the worst part about being a pro and crushing the games, is you "gotta give some to get some", right... You gotta suck it up, swallow your tilting emotions when that 2 outer gets there on the river and say "nice hand", while all you want to do is flip over the fracking table You gotta listen to all the bad beat stories, to the "oh, I would of had 2 pairs", to the dubious strategy talks, to the sighs, the moans, the complaints, while sucking it up when it is your turn to run bad... You gotta nod when they say they had no choice but to call there, simply agree when they tell you how good you run or swallow your pride when the whale goes on a racist, sexist or homophobic rant But for me, perhaps the toughest, is to hear some ego fuelled false claims that are so ****ing ludicrous like :

- "This local is one of the best tournament players in the world and would easily win the main event"

- "This other local fellow is one of the best live tournament players in Canada"

- "I could play poker for a living and I take pleasure in crushing the online players"

- "Dawson City has one of the toughest games IN THE WORLD"




A slot machine from the 1920s side by side with a recent one


Challenge : +31, 159.70$

Week 13 in Review (Day 92)

To continue on yesterday's rant about the stuff that ****ing irks me in the poker world, here are sayings I could get by with never hearing again and be forever at absolute-Nirvanic-otherwordly-peace :

- "I never win with my ex-wives, they always cost me a fortune" every time a fellow loses with QQ

- "Where was that last flop" when a subsequent board brings the nuts one hand too late... ever heard of the card removal effect buddy

- "Online poker is rigged", hummmmm... enuff said

- "I could play for a living" or "use to play for a living", yeah... right

Alright, before it is time to gear up, impose upon ourselves some more rigid volume and studying demands, let's look at the week that was, shall we :

Live Pokerz : There is no denying that the games are getting better, yet no clear signs of the end of my run bad It is what it is, and the run good is just around the corner folks : +400$ in 18h and A- game

Online Pokerz : What else could be said of my online grind this summer, if not that it has been good from A to Z, yo It does help that we are in the midst of some BIG chunks of RB folks : +5.9k in 22h and A game

Alright, time to seriously get back to the grind, which means a week of 50+h (not 40h like last week ) and 4h of studying, which also means no more weeks of 40h




+1k online in 3h, +200$ live in 15m


Challenge : +32, 328.41$

I haven't posted in awhile but still following ... Keep going at it man, you got this!!

Day 93

If you guys remember at the beginning of this challenge, along with the 50k established threshold, the goal was to move up to 400z, or at least to fire multiple shots at it... But alas!, such has not been the case thus far as our shot-taking adventures have been limited to a lone misfired attempt It took me 6 months to move up from 50z to 100z, and then 14 months before making 200z my main game. The latter took a long time, not because the skillset was lacking, but I was not emotionally ready for the swings. Let me explain.

My buddy has on numerous occasions encouraged me to move up in stakes or to at least take more shots in highstakes live MTTs. Because he is Czech and has played with Ruzicka, he is somewhat biased by the success of the latter and while I appreciate the testament of his faith, he does not have a deep understanding of variance, me thinks... the same variance that was preventing me to move up to 200z last year You see, if I would lose 1.5k in a day in 2016, I would not sleep well. Or wake up refreshed in the morning (this number is now 2.5k this year). Given that I am now 40 and that life balance outweighs heavily any craving for action that might entice a 20 something younger player, I consciously delayed moving up in stakes, even if it was the thing to do. I am happy that this threshold has moved north to 2.5k, but it remains alas an obstacle in moving up further...


Thx bro, and yeah, I think I will cross the 50k mark indeed

Excited for the upcoming NBA season? Those Bucks are getting darn closer to the Raps in the standing, me thinks, especially with the latter losing some significant role players in Tucker and Patterson I really like Minnesota though, they should be a blast to watch, and I probably will probably use 10 games or so of my league pass to do so





Challenge : +32, 134.18$

Day 94

Am still shaking my head at my live run bad, and never figured things could ever go this way in such a soft game Of course, all of this could only be made possible if the state of the game is ultimately unhealthy Stay tuned...




-200$ online in 4h, -100$ live in 2h


Challenge : +31, 816.79$

Day 95

Well that was a heck of a fun game - results not withstanding . The table crossed the 8k mark within 2 hours of its inauguration which might not sound like a lot, but represents north of 60 rebuys Most pots were 4 way all-ins, with preflop going at the minimum 1-2-30$ every hand For yours truly though, he managed to whiff pot after pot, after... while other completely, utter clueless players hit 1 outers repeatedly - I kid you not

Needless to say, but I have given up on studying the great game of omaha ; the variance is too high and while this game can be fun as hell, I just would not want to invite this much fluctuation in my life by ever contemplating of making this 4 card game an integral part of it. A bit disappointing though, as it does not seem as if our Omaha Wednesdays will be cancelled anytime soon and it also has become the game of choice in places like Vancouver. Oh well... -1.3k in 7h live, -200$ online in 4h





Challenge : +30, 381.11$